Ken Carl – Finalist for Two National Contests

Alumni  Comment
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Alumni Ken Carl recently placed as a finalist in PDN’s World in Focus Contest and is in the running for Bella Pictures‘ Photographer of the Year award. A long time alumn of mine who has since turned pro. Ken had this to say …
JP,
You are a keystone in my success and vision. True words, not just kind.
It has been a very powerful year beginning with a “nextstep return” the Hilo, our Next Step Exhibit in July and closing with this PDN selection. I feel strongly that my professional career is at a point of major change. There are challenges and dangers. I need to keep focused on personal projects, specifically the Olson House, so my creativity does not stagnate. There are so many images not yet seen. In my professional career has found unexpected success in the arena of photography of weddings, I am again in the running for Photographer of the Year for Bella Pictures. Calumet Photographic has invited me to do a presentation of my wedding photography in March.
Thanks again JP, looking forward to seeing you again soon.
Ken
Find out more about Ken Carl here.

Bill Atkinson Presents Photo Card

Software  Comment
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Take a photo on your iPhone, turn it into a physical postcard, and send it anywhere in the world. It can take as little as a few seconds and cost between $1.50 to $3.00.
Bill Atkinson’s iPhone App PhotoCard makes custom postcards a snap. You can send postcards of your images, not the ones everyone else sends. (Or you can use Bill’s!) The only thing your postcards will be missing is an international stamp, but then it’s not as likely to get lost in international mail or take as long to get there.
If you don’t know who Bill Atkinson is … you should.
Find out more about PhotoCard and Bill Atkinson here.

Photographer Gil Maker Becomes Partner in Gallery

Event - Exhibit  Comment
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Alumni Gil Maker recently became a gallery partner with 9 other photographers. He shared some insights about why and what he’s learned so far.
In 2007 I decided to take the plunge and begin showing my work.  I spent a lot of time visiting local galleries, presenting my work and waiting for answers.  One of the galleries that offered to show my work was Image City Photography Gallery. After the show I was asked if I wanted to become a partner in the gallery.  I accepted without hesitation.  My main motivation was that I did not have to try to get galleries to show my work.  We have new shows every 4 weeks and I now get to display my work without fear of a gallery saying no.
I did not join the gallery with any thought of making a profit.  In fact none of the other partners do either.  We have two goals for our gallery:
1.    A place for us to constantly show our work.
2.    To foster growth in photography and offer others a chance to have a gallery experience.
I have sold a few pieces, which is a nice extra.
What would I advice others in doing this?  First, understand that you will probably not make a living from this.  It is very hard work (as I am finding out).  We have to constantly advertise for people to show their work.  What we make per show does not cover out expenses.  But if you really love photography and want to share that love with the community, then this is one way to do it.  We have met many good photographers from Rochester, New York and have the chance to foster photographic interest in the community, make new friends and grow our own photographic aspirations.  This is one of the best decisions I have made in my life.”
See more of Gil’s work here.

LIDLIPS

Creativity, Photography  Comment
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Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School
Syl Arena’s LIDLIPS started as blog posts on Pixsylated. They were so popular he’s collected them in a book.Syl delivers common sense wisdom that refreshes, provides a useful perspective, and brings you back to center.
Here’s one.
36. Make photos even when you don’t have a camera
Photography has way more to do with seeing than it does with driving a piece of hardware. Practice your skills as a photographer even when you don’t have a camera. Make mental pictures anywhere at anytime. Study the light around you. Watch the gestures and expressions of people across the restaurant. Look for geometry in the surfaces and shadows around you. Pick a word. Say it to yourself every time you take a mental picture. “Snap”.
Here are 9 more topics.
Don’t confuse distraction with creativity.
Embrace stress as the opposite of apathy.
Making yourself vulnerable is a sign of strength.
Listen for answers to questions you didn’t ask.
Look along the edges to find the in betweens.
If your camera were a pencil or a crayon it would be easy to understand it’s limitations.
Make photos even when you don’t have a camera.
Creativity comes as a breeze before it comes as a gale.
Be prepared for your dreams to come true.
Find all 100 LIDLIPS and the book here.
Find LIDLIPS on Amazon here.
Find my creatvity Lessons here.

Avatar

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James Cameron’s Avatar. Stunning special effects. Green message celebrating cultural diversity. Critique of western expansion and materialism. Resolution through violence leaves you with lots of troubling questions relevant to our world today.
Want a more sophisticated anthropological exploration? See Wade Davis below.

Wade Davis on Endangered Cultures

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Cultures are disappearing at a rapid rate. Of the 6000 languages spoken today only half will be passed on to the next generation. Cultures are the rainforests of civilization. They show us the full spectrum of what it means to be human and how richly diverse human experience can be. No one makes this point better than Wade Davis.
I highly recommend his book Shadows in the Sun.
Find his books here.

Budh

Images - Photographs, Images - Statements  Comment
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“I didn’t know it then, but it was the beginning of a whole new series. I knew it after it began happening repeatedly. The process had led me to a new point of departure. The work was a surprise. I hadn’t planned on doing it. It came to me. I had planned to do another body of work, but this one seized me and asked me to stay with it while it was fresh. I listened. I have a feeling that if I had ignored that voice I would not have been able to return to it later, certainly not with the same intensity or understanding …”

Read the rest of this Artist’s Statement here.

What to Look for in HDR

Alumni, Software - Photoshop, Workshop  Comment
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Chris Alvanas’ image (above) is an excellent example of heavy HDR.
Last week I taught my most advanced Fine Art Digital Printing Advanced workshop ever. We talked not only about how to use HDR tools but also the visual effects they produce. HDR processing creates several identifiable artifacts. Going to extremes will help you identify the possibilities and the artifacts more clearly. After that, you can better decide just how far you want to go. Clearly identifying these artifacts can help you control them and craft your own HDR style.
1    Full detail in shadows and highlights
This is the reason special software was invented.
Pushed far blacks and whites can get gray.
2    Accentuation of contour
Images look sharper and clearer. It’s Clarity on steroids.
Pushed far this leads localized vignetting.
3    Accentuation of texture
Talk about detail.
Pushed far it gives objects a stained (“grunge”) appearance and boosts noise.
4    Distortion of relative saturation relationships
Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s unnatural, sometimes it’s beautifully unnatural.
A little post-production work will help you get the balance that’s best for you.
Learn more in my free Lessons.
Learn more in my HDR DVD.
Learn more in my Workshops.
Next FADP Advanced workshop 2/1-5

Seth Resnick – The Vanishing Continent Antarctica

Destination - Antarctica  Comment
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Seth Resnick talks about his new Blurb book The Vanishing Continent Antarctica on Blurb.
“The irony is that Antarctica is anything but white. The light is incredible and sunsets there can last for hours, not just minutes. The ice itself is so dense that red and green can penetrate it, but not blue, so the ice is almost a fluorescent blue. It’s otherworldly. The blue in the cover photograph for my book was really that intense.”
Read the interview here.
See more of Seth’s Antarctica images here.
Find out more Seth Resnick and D-65.
Save your spot on our upcoming Antarctica 2011 workshop here.

Exploring HDR Styles

Alumni, Software - Photoshop, Workshop  Comment
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Last week I taught my most advanced Fine Art Digital Printing Advanced workshop ever. A number of the participants work with HDR. So we explored a variety of HDR styles.
Chris Alvanas likes heavy HDR processing to give his contemporary portraits a grittier look.
Jim Hooper likes to blend normally processed Raw files with HDR processed files for a blend of classic and contemporary.
HDR techniques can be used to generate many different effects. They’re useful techniques every photographer should know about.
Learn more in my free Lessons.
Learn more in my HDR DVD.
Learn more in my Workshops.
Next FADP Advanced workshop 2/1-5